On the edge of Buenos Aires is a nothing little street called Pasaje C, a shot of dried mud leading into a slum from what passes for a main road, the garbage-strewn Mariano Acosta. There is a church, the Immaculate Virgin, toward the end of the ­pasaje—Spanish for passage—where, on one occasion, the local priest and a number of frightened residents took refuge deep in the sanctuary when rival drug gangs opened fire. Beyond the church, Pasaje C branches into the rest of the parish: more rutted mud and cracked concrete form Pasajes A to K. Brick chips from the hasty construction of squatter housing coagulate along what ought to be sidewalks. The word asesino—­murderer—is scrawled in spray-paint on the sooty wall of a burned-out house, which was torched just days before in retaliation for yet another shooting. Packs of dogs sprawl beneath wrecked cars. Children wander heedless of traffic, because nothing can gather speed on these jagged roads. But even Pasaje C can lead to Rome.

As Cardinal and Archbishop of Buenos Aires, a metropolis of some 13.5 million souls, Jorge Mario Bergoglio made room in his schedule every year for a pastoral visit to this place of squalor and sorrow.­ He would walk to the subway station nearest to the Metropolitan Cathedral, whose pillars and dome fit easily into the center of Argentine power. Traveling alone, he would transfer onto a graffiti-blasted tram to Mariano Acosta, reaching where the subways do not go. He finished the journey on foot, moving heavily in his bulky black orthopedic shoes along Pasaje C. On other days, there were other journeys to barrios throughout the city—so many in need of so much, but none too poor or too filthy for a visit from this itinerant prince of the church. Reza por mí, he asked almost everyone he met. Pray for me.

When, on March 13, Bergoglio inherited the throne of St. Peter—keeper of the keys to the kingdom of heaven—he made the same request of the world. Pray for me. His letter of retirement, a requirement of all bishops 75 and older, was already on file in a Vatican office, awaiting approval. Friends in Argentina had perceived him to be slowing down, like a spent force. In an instant, he was a new man, calling himself Francis after the humble saint from Assisi. As Pope, he was suddenly the sovereign of Vatican City and head of an institution so ­sprawling—with about enough followers to populate China—so steeped in order, so snarled by bureaucracy, so vast in its charity, so weighted by its scandals, so polarizing to those who study its teachings, so mysterious to those who don’t, that the gap between him and the daily miseries of the world’s poor might finally have seemed unbridgeable. Until the 266th Supreme Pontiff walked off in those clunky shoes to pay his hotel bill.

The papacy is mysterious and magical: it turns a septuagenarian into a superstar while revealing almost nothing about the man himself. And it raises hopes in every corner of the world—hopes that can never be fulfilled, for they are irreconcilable. The elderly traditionalist who pines for the old Latin Mass and the devout young woman who wishes she could be a priest both have hopes. The ambitious monsignor in the Vatican Curia and the evangelizing deacon in a remote Filipino village both have hopes. No Pope can make them all happy at once.

But what makes this Pope so important is the speed with which he has captured the imaginations of millions who had given up on hoping for the church at all. People weary of the endless parsing of sexual ethics, the buck-passing infighting over lines of authority when all the while (to borrow from Milton), “the hungry Sheep look up, and are not fed.” In a matter of months, Francis has elevated the healing mission of the church—the church as servant and comforter of hurting people in an often harsh world—above the doctrinal police work so important to his recent predecessors. John Paul II and Benedict XVI were professors of theology. Francis is a former janitor, nightclub bouncer, chemical technician and literature teacher.

And behind his self-effacing facade, he is a very canny operator. He makes masterly use of 21st century tools to perform his 1st century office. He is photographed washing the feet of female convicts, posing for selfies with young visitors to the Vatican, embracing a man with a deformed face. He is quoted saying of women who consider abortion because of poverty or rape, “Who can remain unmoved before such painful situations?” Of gay people: “If a homosexual person is of good will and is in search of God, I am no one to judge.” To divorced and remarried Catholics who are, by rule, forbidden from taking Communion, he says that this crucial rite “is not a prize for the perfect but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak.”

Through these conscious and skillful evocations of moments in the ministry of Jesus, as recounted in the Gospels, this new Pope may have found a way out of the 20th century culture wars, which have left the church moribund in much of Western Europe and on the defensive from Dublin to Los Angeles. But the paradox of the papacy is that each new man’s success is burdened by the astonishing successes of Popes past. The weight of history, of doctrines and dogmas woven intricately century by century, genius by genius, is both the source and the limitation of papal power. It radiates from every statue, crypt and hand-painted vellum text in Rome—and in churches, libraries, hospitals, universities and museums around the globe. A Pope sets his own course only if he can conform it to paths already chosen.

And so Francis signals great change while giving the same answers to the uncomfortable questions. On the question of female priests: “We need to work harder to develop a profound theology of the woman.” Which means: no. No to abortion, because an individual life begins at conception. No to gay marriage, because the male-female bond is established by God. “The teaching of the church … is clear,” he has said, “and I am a son of the church, but”—and here he adds his prayer for himself—“it is not necessary to talk about those issues all the time.”

If that prayer should be answered, if somehow by his own vivid example Francis could bring the church into a new relationship with its critics and dissidents—agreeing to disagree about issues that divide them while cooperating in the urgent mission of spreading mercy—he might unleash untold good. “Argue less, accomplish more” could be a healing motto for our times. We have a glut of problems to tackle. Francis says by example, Stop bickering and roll up your sleeves. Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good—an important thing for the world to hear, especially from a man who holds an office deemed infallible.

This papacy begins with a name. Jorge Bergoglio is the first Pope to choose as his namesake Francis of Assisi, the 13th century patron saint of the poor. The choice, coming after 14 Clements, 16 Benedicts and 21 Johns, is clearly and pointedly personal. The 13th century Francis turned to the ministry when, as legend has it, he heard a voice calling to him from a crucifix to repair God’s house. He left his prosperous silk-merchant family to live with the poor. He was a peacemaker, the first Catholic leader to travel to Egypt to try to end the Crusades. He placed mercy at the core of his life.

From that name follows much of Francis’ agenda. While the Catholic Church envisioned by Benedict XVI was one of tightly calibrated spiritual prescriptions, Francis told Father Antonio Spadaro, editor of the Jesuit magazine Civiltà Cattolica, in an interview published at the end of September, that he sees “the church as a field hospital after battle.” His vision is of a pastoral—not a doctrinaire—church, and that will shift the Holy See’s energies away from demanding long-distance homage and toward ministry to and embrace of the poor, the spiritually broken and the lonely. He expanded on this idea in a 288-section apostolic exhortation called “Evangelii Gaudium,” or “The Joy of the Gospel.” “I prefer a Church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a Church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security,” he wrote. He made it clear that he does not just want talk—he wants actual transformation.

He has halted the habit of granting priests the honorific title of monsignor as a way to stem careerism in the ranks and put the focus instead on pastoring. He told a gathering of his diplomats that he wanted them to identify candidates for bishop in their home countries who are, he said, “gentle, patient and merciful, animated by inner poverty, the freedom of the Lord and also by outward simplicity and austerity of life.” To Francis, poverty isn’t simply about charity; it’s also about justice. The church, by extension, should not reflect Rome; it should mirror the poor.

Which helps explain why he has turned the once obscure Vatican Almoner, an agency that has been around for about 800 years and is often reserved for an aging Catholic diplomat, over to the dynamic 50-year-old Polish Archbishop Konrad Krajewski and told him to make it the Holy See’s new front porch. “You can sell your desk,” Francis told Krajewski. “You don’t need it. You need to get out of the Vatican. Don’t wait for people to come ringing. You need to go out and look for the poor.” The Archbishop hands out small amounts to the needy, including a recent gift of 1,600 phone cards to immigrant survivors of a capsized boat so they could call family back in Eritrea. Francis often gives Krajewski stacks of letters with his instructions to help the people who have written to him and asked for aid. In what sounds like a necessary precaution, the Vatican recently issued a denial after Krajewski hinted that Francis himself sometimes slips out of the Vatican dressed as an ordinary priest to hand out alms.

Still can't believe Time gave this award to a pope compared to Edward Snowden who opened our eyes and took exile simply to reveal to this country has lost one of the very freedoms it has sworn to provide. Regardless of the unfortunate way he went about it, the fact remains that the world is truly a better place for the information he revealed. The President should give him a full pardon. Like him or not he is absolutely the most important person of the year and the pope belongs at a close second.

I'm interested in knowing who made the decision to hide the 2012 winner (Eric Snowden) and those who don't make the extra effort to see the half-second picture. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but it's only a single moment in time. It's a shame that Time doesn't see its readers as bright enough to realize that for themselves.

I would like to order the issue of Time Magazine Man of the year showing the Pope Francis on the cover.. I don't know where to find at this time but am willing to purchase a copy as soon as humanly possible. Please contact me at my e-mail. It is in my account.

See, i must tell you, this is the best feature-article i've ever seen and read on a Personality. Time has done a perfectly right thing by choosing Pope Francis as the Man of the year. I'm in all praise for the reporters of this particular piece of writing. They deserve big credits.

I wish if the bishops and priests of the same Church of this Pope will also find sometime to read this article. Many of them still seem ignorant to what Pope wants of the Church today (may be because they choose to be so).

Long live the Pope. As someone said, 'Now there's a PRIEST as a Pope'.

Of course, Time selected Adolph Hitler as "man of the year" in 1938. This pope, back when he was "Provincial superior", who remained silent as tens of thousands of Argentines were "disappeared" by killers driving Falcons during the 1970's seems a natural for the part. Thank you, Time magazine for keeping your integrity intact, all these decades.

I was generally disappointed with this year's choices!!! Yes, there's plenty of room for discussions, and debate!!! I was really dismayed over only 5 people profiled. I would prefer to see all choices, and less write up about the chosen!!! As far as Eric S., the traitor!!! Nothing will change my mind about this individual. He is a thief!!! Also, a fraud!!!

Please be more open with your selections for 2014, and let us see them al!!!

If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. John 15:18-19

This Pope understands the ancient foundation, the rock, the RC Church stands upon. He seems habitually conscious of its original Christian mission. In his insistence on relative simplicity he is very authentic. Pope Francis I possesses the leadership capacity to unite and inspire his enormous worldwide congregation, and that is a blessing. The world right now is in profound need of exactly what Francis brings. He is a luminous personality.

When I disagree with the Pope’s conduct, I always find
someone who takes his defense:

"But you have to give him time for he took office
just now" - Just now!?: Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected pope on March
13, 2013. And people keep on saying: "He cannot take action because he is
not permitted."

Gentlemen, I am taken aback by your naivety and
stupidity and, even more, I can’t understand how you elaborating these kinds of imaginative ideas and thoughts.

At the beginning of his pontificate Pope Francis did
promise he should open the seminaries, shut up for lack of vocations, with a
viewing to giving homeless people shelter.

I mean to inform those who live abroad, about the
black-out of the news, concerning the ‘Holy’ Catholic Church. As a matter of
fact, none of it leaks out of Italian borders. And I am writing this comment,
above all, to firmly relate the plight of the refugees in Lampedusa, getting
more and more critical while the police aren't able to manage the control of
these people, ready to make their escape.

There is need for housing in order to give a dignified
reception to these wonderful people, who are looking for a place away from
tyranny and hunger.

But is Pope Francis helping them out? Nope.

The Pope is aware of these great inconveniences but
does not take any initiative. In other words, he is breaking his promise.

And his silence is a thousand times louder than
Niagara Falls.

The media are spreading news no end and are giving breaking
information about the refugees, who are taking flight. Unfortunately most of
them are doomed to fall into the Mafia’s hands and, consequently, to turn into
laborers of this criminal organization.

Time typically goes with either the safe, or the inane, such as the year it put a mirror up saying that the "Person of the Year is YOU." This year it went with the safe, after all who's going to badmouth the Pope, aside from a few Tea Party wingnuts whose main purpose in life is to feed new material to John Stewart's Daily Show?

The real person of the year is Edward Snowden who ripped off all of the Emperor's clothes to show the maggots hiding underneath.

The Pope inherited a very damaged institution. He is moving to restore a 2000
year old brand by returning it to its basics. Saying he wants a decentralized
Roman Catholic Church that is "bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been
out on the streets." is a great first step.

When will being an
‘active-pedophile / protector of pedophiles’ change from an (expected) R.C.C.-condition
of employment, (per Rome’s protectionist-policy), to a mandatory reporting
situation?????

It is my
custom to wait for the new pope’s
first year to pass before condemning/extolling
a new pontiff, because… (SIGH…), I’m waiting to see if he is genuine, or merely
another, ‘go along, to get along’, flunky!

Meanwhile…

Did the ‘emeritus’
pope, Ratzinger, (…basking in disgraced retirement!), ever get ‘round to
fulfilling his, (“I will rid this church of its filth!”), vow?

All you people saying negative comments. Don't blame the Church it is people like you who are the reason the world is the way it is. Instead of spreading love you are spreading hate. Good job. Try saying something nice that isn't mean to other people or their beliefs. Maybe then we could have a better world of understanding and love and life would be better. You criticise the Church but WE are the ones spreading the message of love where you guys are spreading the message of hate one another. Think about it. Change your ways, if anything just try to be a nice person and all of us would be a lot better off.

I am surprised on how such
a scenic first page is accompanied by a poor article. All the
Bergoglio's history is explained as a gossip, starting from his birth
to today, only pinpointing his priority for poor and then obsessively
repeating the homosexual and the women issues, which are already in
the Pope's talks and actions, and at the same time ignoring what he
said: “it is not necessary to talk about those issues all the
time”.

It is more surprising that
the paragraph “A changing papacy” is also and again reduced to a
gossip, with little little reporting to his main changes of rules and
persons of the Vatican's Bank “IOR” and of the Roman Curia, both
of which are generating an internal war against him, according to the
Cesare Borgia's stile, the archbishop who inspired the
Macchiavelli's “The Prince”.

A war well
explained on the weekly paper “Il Venerdì di
Repubblica”, in the article “Who wants to stop the Papastrjka”
which describes the events with the names of the defenestrated
archbishops and the new ones, to change the IOR and the Roman Curia,
http://periodici.repubblica.it/venerdi/
pagg. 22-27.

Those are the real hard and dangerous
issues, from which Pope Francis has to watch himself.

All the rest is nice to hear because is
also part of the Pope's Francis changes, a Church which finally makes
a 180 degree change after 1000 years, but they are not the harmful
core.

Time ABSOLUTELY GOT IT WRONG. Their stated criteria: the person "who most affected the news and our lives, for good or ill, and embodied what was important about the year." I think it's wonderful that Pope Francis is not hunkered down in a bunker like his predecessor, reactionary and obtuse, but his words of sympathy for the poor have not affected the news and our lives. They are just words at this point. By contrast, Edward Snowden ignited an over-due national and international dialogue about technology and privacy. The light he shed on the NSA has already made us safer and freer from government intrusion. Snowden's disclosures have had, and will continue to have, tangible results. For these reasons, Edward Snowden, not Pope Francis, should have been the 2013 Person Of The Year.

How Pope Francis is TIME's Person of the Year is a mystery. Oh, he's honest? Hooray, the church still denounces gay marriage and women in general. Not to mention that his "honesty" still hasn't eliminated the sex allegations and charges against priests and members of the church alike. In that case, the runner-up shouldn't have been Edward Snowden, it should have been Ed the Sock.

The Pope's consistent message has been humility and simplicity without the trappings of pomp and ceremony. His insistence on tolerance and respect are genuine as he tries to reach out to the masses. He has endeared himself to his followers the world over by his exemplary ways.

Time magazine rightfully announced Pope Francis as a person
of 2013 year. But he actually did not need this recognition. There is an
undisputable criterion for distinguishing the person’s qualities and integrity.
Pope Francis earnestly and unselfishly, with humility and love for the regular
people aimed to fulfill the Natural Law.

But in its previous issue Time magazine named a human being
Master of the Universe, greatly offending in this way the real ONE.

There is nothing to be ashamed of being a Marxist, for Marx got his ideas from Jesus. Jesus attacked priests, capitalists and corrupt rulers in all his speeches. Marx probably would have got ideas for revolutionary socialism from the bold act of Jesus in driving out black marketeers and big business from the Temple premises. The Bible says that Jesus entered into the temple of God, and drove out all of those who sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the money changers' tables and the seats of those who sold the doves. If Jesus came now into many parts of his visible church, how many secret evils he would discover and cleanse! And how many things daily practiced under the cloak of religion, would he show to be more suitable to a den of thieves than to a house of prayer! In Dostoevsky's Brothers Karamazov, a bishop wants to arrest Jesus for interfering in his nefarious activities. Pope Francis should boldly put into action Christian Marxism. If he fails, Jesus wouldn't recognize him at the time of Last Judgment.

The world needs more people friendly recognition of this Nature. I was really sad when Obama was awarded with the Nobel peace award, but ...bit relaxed to see this today. Not because I am a Catholic but I am one, among millions of ordinary people , in search of leaders who are Humane. Thanks to the TIME.

A good choice, and of the runner-ups the only real choice if this is an international honor. Snowden is a good 2nd, but as a non-Christian I must still say, the Pope has a greater overreach, and just making people around the world like the church more, and giving hope to so many marginalized people. . . a good choice.

@Yoshi Not only he was not silent in the 70´s but personally involved in the rescue and hiding of many pursued, a thorough investigation was carried by several Human Rights orgs., some of them whose simpaties with the Kirchners administration are so evident, later on had to apoligize and recognize Jorge Bergolio´s efforts to save others and confront the Junta. Moreover, a recent book has been launched with several testimonies called "The Bergoglio´s List", in line with the well known "The Schindlers List" that I reccomend you to read ,due to your limited knowledge on our Popes integrity and values.

@Yoshi Ah, ye of little literacy: Time chooses the person it feels (opinion alert!) affected the news and the world the most, for good or ill. It's a specious qualification, agreed, but your implication that they choose the most notorious person for the title is ill-informed.

@USNavy2014 I'd like Nobel prizes to be focused on scientific achievements, but Obama got a Nobel Peace prize, it's perfectly reasonable and he probably deserves it.

As far as Snowden not getting person of the year, that's a travesty. Like him or not he is without a doubt the most important person of the year and opened all of our eyes to something our country has sworn to provide and the world is a better place because of this new information. Obama needs to give him a full pardon.

@DavidBurns I believe the Time Criteria emphasizes a global context and therefore while the NSA may have a global sphere of influence the name itself explicitly conveys its domestic focus. This is not to belittle the bravery or impact that Snowden had (or arguably the larger impact he *should have had*) however it's difficult--impossible?--to argue that any other singular institution has had a more profound impact on humanity throughout history than the Catholic Church. In that context the current Pope is absolutely a legitimate choice for MOTY.

@AbrahamYeshuratnam Marxism thinks the government knows what we should do with our lives and money . I have no faith in the ability of our federal government, let alone them telling me what to do with my money and freedom.

@TishTashOkay, sorry, Sir/Madam. No need for name-calling. You have no understanding of my literacy beyond an opinion I stated. To name someone "Person of the year" certainly appears to be an honorific or a statement of high esteem. Perhaps a different title would be more appropriate, such as "news-maker" or "news-figure" of the year.

To gonzatz: I will agree to disagree. Those recent testimonies are far different from the older ones I am familiar with.